Luminant cutbacks spare local facilities

East Texas operations going down if suit fails

By MIKE BROWN

Reporter Editor

Luminant’s Sandow 4 and 5 power plant units are not targeted for shutdown as company announced lawsuit against EPA Monday.
Aerial photo courtesy of pilot Jimmy Cox and photograp her James Perry In the end, it came down to the old joke about the two campers fleeing a grizzly—“I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you.”

Sandow Power Plant and Three Oaks Mine have apparently “outrun” Luminant mines at Monticello and Big Brown locations in east Texas and two of the three power plant units at Monticello.

Luminant announced Monday it would close those facilities, costing about 500 jobs, if it is unsuccessful in a lawsuit to force the Environmental Protection Agency to alter new guidelines which would essentially reduce the use of lignite coal.

But no changes are anticipated at Three Oaks Mine, in Lee and Bastrop counties, and Sandow Power Plants 4 and 5 near Rockdale.

Together Sandow and Three Oaks employ about 400 persons in the Rockdale area.

INVESTMENT— In fact Sandow 4 was mentioned as one of three Luminant locations on the receiving end of a “substantial investment program” to upgrade existing environmental facilities.

The company said it would invest approximately $280 million by the end of 2012 and estimates it will spend more than $1.5 billion by the decades end.

But the key words Monday for the Rockdale area to hear were by Ashley Barrie, Luminant spokesperson, who told The Reporter: “Beyond that (the investment program), there is no planned impact to the (Sandow power) plant or to the Three Oaks Mine.”

That’s in line with the situation’s original analysis in July when the EPA annou nced it s new Cros s-St at e Ai r Po llution Ru le (CSAPR).

It added Texas to the list of 27 states requir ed to further reduc e sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions.

The move was widely believed to target use of lign ite at Texas’ older power plant units.

Sandow 5istwoyears old, coming on- line in Augu st, 2009.

Sandow 4 was constructed in the 1970’ s, upgraded in the mid- 1980 s and received new Selective Cata lyt ic Converter (SCR) tech - nology in the early 2000s.

“We spent the last two mont hs identif y ing all possible opt ions to me et the requirements of the new rule,” Lu mina nt CE O David Ca mpbell sa id. “However, meeting this unre alistic (Jan. 1) deadli ne also forces us to take steps th at will id le facilities and result in the loss of jobs,” he said.